Calgary Flames holding summer prospect camp this weekend

Flames draft pick Sam Bennett will be one of the players at Winsport at Canada Olympic Park this weekend for the summer development camp. In total, there will be 41 skaters looking to make an impression on the coaching staff.

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The summer prospects camp isn’t just to ensure players in the Calgary Flames fold are on the right path in their development.

As we’ve witnessed in the past year with a couple of moves – the signing of Bryce Van Brabant and drafting of Austin Carroll – it’s an opportunity to identify potential players to bring into the fold.

When the Flames begin camp Friday at WinSport at Canada Olympic Park, 18 of the 41 attendees are currently free agents.

So, on top of everyone in the Stampede City having a chance to get their eyes on the newest crop of draftees and others who have been in the system, it’s a chance to see whether an unknown can make a good enough impression on the team for a bigger opportunity.

Curiously, there is a notable list of players who won’t be in attendance.

Sean Monahan isn’t allowed to paricipate after spending all of last season in the NHL, while Sven Baertschi, Markus Granlund, Sam Reinhart, Corban Knight, Josh Jooris, John Ramage and Turner Elson are excused having played a full season in the pro ranks and been through it enough times already.

Michael Ferland (knee) and Emile Poirier (shoulder) will be on hand, but not participating.

But, here are five players we plan to pay attention to.

C Sam Bennett

The fourth overall pick in this year’s draft may very well be the skilled centre this team has been perpetually trying to find. Seeing as he was injured and didn’t play in the Top Prospects Game, this is a chance to finally see Bennett live and in person in Calgary.

For the camp, he’s currently in a group with the ultra-skilled John Gaudreau and hulking winger Hunter Smith (a second-round pick this year), and we doubt that’s by accident. If Bennett and Gaudreau are together, we’re expecting plenty of oohs and ahhs from the fans on hand during this week.

The Flames spent many years being panned for the lack of skilled prospects, but Bennett and others are quieting those criticisms.

LW/RW Lukas Zejdl

An undrafted 6-foot-4, 212-lb. winger from the Czech Republic, Zejdl will turn 23 years old in August.

Last season, he collected six goals and 26 points in 47 games last season for Slavia Praha of his nation’s top loop, the Extraliga.

Although a left-handed shot, Zejdl tends to play the right side, so combined with his size, could fill a hole the Flames have.

It’s likely Zejdl will return home for the season, but this is a golden opportunity to get a player without surrendering any assets, or at least a read on him among other players you know.

LW David Wolf

Speaking of big-body wingers from Europe, the Flames added Wolf to the fold this spring after the 6-foot-3, 216-lb. left-winger from Duesseldorf, Germany, finished the year with the Hamburg Freezers.

Wolf collected 14 goals and 40 points in 48 games for the Freezers, and also led the league with 152 penalty minutes. Yep, that makes him possibly the truculent winger the Flames brass is hoping to add to the fold.

He’s 24 years old and inked to a one-year, two-way contract, and it’s likely he’ll start the season with the AHL Adirondack Flames. However, if Wolf has the speed and skill and can adapt to the North American game quickly enough, his ascent to the NHL could come sooner than later.

He attended the Toronto Maple Leafs summer prospects camp in 2012.

C Mark Jankowski

The oft-maligned 2012 first-round draft choice, 21st overall, is coming to his third summer prospects camp, and this an opportunity for new GM, Brad Treliving to really get to know him.

Jankowski, who’ll turn 20 years old in September, did marginally improve his offensive totals from his freshman to sophomore seasons at Providence College, going from seven to 13 goals and 18 to 25 points.

Moreover, he mainly played centre for the Friars.

Jankowski, who was up to 185 lb. at last year’s summer camp, still must pack on some weight to his 6-foot-4 frame, but does skate very well.

With the likes of Sean Monahan and Bennett in the fold - and possibly a Connor McDavid or Jack Eichel if the Flames finish low enough in the standings - the pressure on Jankowski to become the next Joe Nieuwendyk (as former Flames assistant general manager John Weisbrod claimed him to be) as been reduced.

That said, the Flames need him to be a NHLer to salvage that decision.

D Patrick Sieloff

To say it’s been a rough go for the 2012 second-round draft choice would be an understatement. After an early end to the 2012-13 season due to a groin injury, he impressed enough in last season’s training camp to go to the AHL instead of junior, but then suffered a staph infection and played only two games before being shut down for the campaign.

Sieloff plays a rambunctious game, and may have to rein it in a touch during this week’s camp.

That said, some all-out, physical play from the 6-foot-1, 200-lb. blueliner could be exactly what he needs, not to mention set a tone for the club’s future.

As Advertised in the Calgary SUN

Calgary Flames holding summer prospect camp this weekend

The summer prospects camp isn’t just to ensure players in the Calgary Flames fold are on the right path in their development.

As we’ve witnessed in the past year with a couple of moves – the signing of Bryce Van Brabant and drafting of Austin Carroll – it’s an opportunity to identify potential players to bring into the fold.

When the Flames begin camp Friday at WinSport at Canada Olympic Park, 18 of the 41 attendees are currently free agents.

So, on top of everyone in the Stampede City having a chance to get their eyes on the newest crop of draftees and others who have been in the system, it’s a chance to see whether an unknown can make a good enough impression on the team for a bigger opportunity.

Curiously, there is a notable list of players who won’t be in attendance.